“Please speak quietly, everyone in Zalera is usually asleep at this time.”

Yami lead Cami into Zalera, holding hands with her as they made their way through the sunrise peeking through the windows. It was a lazy day, various members sleeping in odd positions and odd places, some of them hungover out of their minds. A heavily clad warrior rumbled hello to Yami as he passed.

The warm sun gently brought Zodi back to reality. He let his senses return slowly, feeling rather blissfully comfortable in the light and soft grass. Birds chirped, ribbits croaked, the light shone through his eyelids, ah it was-

IT SMELLED TERRIBLE.

Zodi nearly vomited as the smell of decaying moss giants and frog bodies overwhelmed his senses. He coughed, muffling his nose in his sleeve. It smelled like meaty waste, like someone had taken a huge dump after eating a feast that the sorcereress's made. Zodi would never wish upon anyone to smell this terrible, terrible, smell- a deep intake of breath caught his attention. He looked up to see Yami stretching out his arms and soaking in the sunshine, dried blood and flesh crystalized on his clothes. Being covered in gleaming blood was a strange sight for the usually-white-clothed gladiator. Oh goddess, he smelled terrible too.

"After-battle smell! I love it!" Yami declared to the sky, grinning. He looked to Zodi and blinked at his confused expression. "Come on, don't tell me you're not used to this?"

"I-I..." Zodi trailed off. How could anyone get used to this smell? It clung to everything and made even the tastiest thought seem like super slop. "Is that a warrior thing?" He asked, confused.

"..." Yami tilted his head from side to side, "Is it that weird?" He asked.

"I... um, feel like I'm going to be sick..." Zodi admitted.

"We better get moving, then." Yami said, his tone a quieter as he turned to pull out the spikes in his tent. Zodi tried his hardest not to gag and started to pack up his own tent. Yami patiently wait for him for a few seconds before approaching the guardian flower. He peeked inside it cautiously and smelled a sweet aroma. There was a pool of an unknown substance inside. Zodi pulled him away from the flower and through the decaying pile of frogs. Ugh, there were already swarms of beetles on them, eating out their insides. At least the guardian flower would have plenty to eat. There were already a few being wrapped slowly in what looked like roots.  Zodi wondered if that was the reason the flowers bloomed around battlefields here... they offered protection and the people who camped near them offered them food.

Zodi quickly realized he was holding Yami's hand and let go quickly, heat rushing to his face.

"Yami?"

"Yeah?"

"You really need a bath..."

"... I know."

---

"Do you think Tortega's gonna be mad at me?" Yami asked, increasingly worried every step closer they got to Arendel.

"I don't know him very well... Um... Is this against your training or something...?" Zodi asked, unsure.

"Kinda... Yeah... Actually, it's the opposite of what I'm supposed to do. Oh goddess he's going to be so mad..." Yami groaned, pushing back his bloodied bangs in unease.

"Well..." Zodi trailed off before putting a sympathetic hand on Yami's shoulder, "You... made this choice... Um. You got what's coming to you?"

He knew he screwed up when Yami's eyes widened and he covered his face with his hands, growling unhappily.

"Uh... If you want to talk about anything, I'm always open..." Zodi finished lamely.

"Tor's gonna take away all my cookies. Or maybe he'll tie me to a post. Or maybe he'll take away my sword." Yami looked absolutely terrified at the last thought, "How am I supposed to live without swinging my sword at least five hundred sixty-eight times a day?!" He howled angrily, scaring away some birds.

"You're overreacting... You're pretty much an adult now... besides, you won't let him push you around, right?" Zodi quietly tried to calm him down, trying to keep himself calm as well with deep, steady breaths.

"I guess I could borrow a wooden sword..." Yami mumbled, "Or m-maybe he'll hate me!" He stopped at that, the silence deafening as he seriously considered that thought. "Maybe I should just stay in Arendel..."

Zodi had to push him to keep him walking.

"You can't run away from your mistakes." He said, looking ahead, "You need to find your courage." He trailed off, blushing at his words, "Or something like that..." He muttered.

"Yeah... ... I think you're right. I just got to apologize and maybe he won't disown me as his student." Yami said with a forced smile. Zodi cringed internally at that expression. "I think we should hurry up, it's gonna take hours to get to the elf city at this rate."

He picked up the crusader and Zodi yelped as he was carried bridal style.

"H-hey! Put me down!" He protested, his face turning bright red.

"Nuh uh, ya turtle!" Yami replied, picking up speed and leaning forward into a dash. Zodi quietly decided that this wasn't so bad and shakily held onto his shoulder as he leapt and sprinted through Arendel's forest.

---

When they had reached Arendel, they were pretty much forced into the baths. Something about monster blood tainting their pure elven land. These baths were mostly mixed sexes, and any sexual misconduct or acts whatsoever resulted in being banned from ever coming to the bath house again. ("It wasn't always this way. Some humans couldn't control their filthy hands." The elf bathkeeper stated, glaring at the two boys as if they had done it themselves.)

Yami yelped as the extremely-cold water was poured onto his head. Zodi couldn't help but laugh as he held the bucket, his rare prankster-Kakumei side peeking out as Yami glared at him. 

"Oh, um, I'm sorry." Zodi retreated back into his shell as Yami stared at him. Oh, no. Yami wasn't going to forgive him that easily. He took a nearby bucket  and dipped it into the bathing lake calmly before approaching Zodi slowly. Zodi already knew revenge was imminent and backed off, wide-eyed. There was a click in their gazes and Yami started to chase him around the area, annoying some elves and older humans trying to chat politely together in the baths nearby. It was a public bath, and mostly everyone had swimsuits or towels on. Yami had on a pair of shorts and his usual arm bandages and Zodi had a entire robe on. A warm, fluffy green robe. That was about to be soaked by the goosebump-covered Yami.

Unfortunately Yami slipped right into a hot spring and the water quickly had specks of dried blood floating in it before Yami scrambled out, gasping. The temperature change was startling. But not as startling as the glare the elves and humans were giving them.

"Oh. Sorry." Yami said sheepishly. Zodi slowly approached him and Yami teasingly shook a few drops of cold water onto him from the now-empty bucket.

"Children, please calm yourselves and be more careful." An elf sighed. Yami nodded to her sheepishly and Zodi bowed his head in shame. The two of them gathered around the empty misty ice-pool and Yami's fingers twitched with the urge to push Zodi inside. He would probably scream like a girl.

I gotta be mature. This is Arendel. That's something Tor would say, right? Yami thought, taking a deep breath in and out. He slipped into the water and under, ignoring the shock. Zodi gently walked in and held down his robe so that he had some privacy. Yami scrubbed at his hair and splashed around like a giant fish in shallow water while Zodi serenely washed the grime off himself with a grace of a pink swan, ignoring the splash droplets from Yami. The cold water here made it so that the blood didn't stain their skin and make them end up looking like they were diseased.

Eventually Yami got used to the temperature, even though he shivered slightly. The water around him was red and had chunks of dried blood and frog guts floating around. The cleaner fish swam around him, gradually increasing. A single one nibbled at Zodi's toes, making him yelp  and swim away from it. Yami laughed until the cleaner fish started to start nibbling at him tenfold. His laughter turned more hysterical until he was basically rolling around in the water crying. It tickled like crazy! The fish were not deterred by his movement and continued to peck him clean. Zodi frantically swam away from the single cleaner fish and it eagerly gave chase like it was some kind of shark. A group of humans asked what was going on, and a few started to laugh. Even a few elves smiled at the two boys.

Yami gasped for breath, trying to push the fish away, before he tried to suck it up and use this as motivation to scrub himself harder. He trembled with hysteria as he slid back underwater and focused on getting the bloody dirt off him. Zodi had enough and climbed out of the pool. He walked over to where Yami was and watched in a sort of fascination as Yami was engulfed by an entire school of fish. A few times Yami came up out of the liquid mass of fish and gasped for breath before diving under again.

"Uh, are you okay?" Zodi asked as Yami came up for the fifth time. Yami looked at him, visibly shaking and his lips pressed together, before unsteadily giving him a thumbs up. "Okay... I'm going into a hot spring. D-do I look clean enough?" Yami nodded. "Okay." Turty uncertainly left him to the fish's mercy and climbed into a hot spring besides a elf, who ignored his presence and talked about things in another language with her friends. Turty sank into the water and closed his eyes, trying to relax.

The fish eventually started to lose interest in him and Yami shooed away the few that remained. He climbed out of the water and instantly started to shiver. He had been in the ice bath for a long time. He looked around for pink and spotted Zodi practically sleeping in a hot spring pool filled with elves. There wasn't much room for him. He frowned and climbed into a pool nearby. He winced at the temperature change and decided to sit on the edge.

"Interesting scar there!" An elf commented. Yami thought she was talking about someone else until he looked up to see brown eyes of a blonde elf looking at him curiously. Yami reached up to his arms quickly to feel one of his arm bandages missing. D-did one of the fishes eat it?! He quickly slipped into the pool and hid underwater, closing his eyes and laying on his unbandaged side.

"Sor-ry. I did-n-t me-an to off-end yo-u." The elf's voice was suprisingly clear underwater. Yami didn't have that skill and looked away shamefully. He hid his scar with his hand and rose back up.

"Uh... do you have any bandages?" Yami asked quietly.

"Ah... I have this, child." The elf pointed to the hairtie holding up her hair.

"May I borrow it, please?" Yami practically pleaded. The elf nodded and unwrapped it from her hair. It was a pleasant surprise that it was so long. She offered it out to Yami, who gently took it and wrapped it around his arm. Zodi suddenly climbed in next to him and waved hello. Yami gave him a nod back.

"Oh, I can tie that." Zodi offered. First aid was something that all the clerics were trained in.

"No thank you." Yami responded, tying it securely.

"You do not have to return it. I can make another one." The elf hummed.

"Thank you." Yami replied softly, lost in thought. Zodi wondered what he was thinking about it but didn't question it, sinking into the water to rest. Yami did the same, and drifted off into a trance. He opened his eyes when a elf or human entered and exited the bath, but closed them again once they were settled in. He pleasantly lost track of time, wrapped in the warm water's bubbling and healing embrace.

"I see we decided to have a unannounced vacation."

Yami's eyes shot open to see a familiar... lunar knight... with silver hair...!

"TOR-BLRBRBRBRGH" Yami early swallowed a mouthful of water and stood up to face his mentor, coughing and looking like he was expecting to be hit. Tor did no such thing, merely looking him up and down and he... had a dangerously calm expression... Tortega took a deep breath in and out and Yami knew he was absolutely screwed.

"I... I can explain...?" Yami grinned as an offer of a peace treaty but Tor only steelily gazed back at him. Zodi watched their confrontation with increasing alarm. Tor's aura was getting increasingly dangerous by the second.

"Oh?" Tor shifted closer to him and Yami bolted. Tor swiped at him but the nimble gladiator ran out of his arm's reach. He pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced at Zodi.

"Thank you for finding him, Zodiark." He said before walking after his hysteric pupil. Zodi sat there for a few seconds before getting up and walking after him. "I need to borrow him for a bit and speak in private to him." He said to the cautiously curious crusader.

"Oh..." Zodi shrank back and let the lunar knight disappear from sight. He stood indecisively before his curiosity and worry caught up with him.

Screams and loud clanging noises roused Yami from his dreamless sleep. Groggily he put a pillow over his head and turned on his belly, trying to go back to sleep. His bed was too comfortable to leave now-!

"YAMI! GET UP! WE'RE HUNGRY!" His friend, Magi, shouted. Yami stayed still, maybe the kali would go away if she didn't see him...

Magi sighed and pulled off his blankets. Yami snatched them back and Magi let the blanket go, looking annoyed as Yami blinked back into awareness. Oh. He should get up right now. He gave a sheepish grin to Magi who stole a cake tine from his sweets table and ran.

"HEY!" Yami launched out of bed and chased after her. The blade dancer nimbly swung down the stairs and Yami swung around the pole in the middle of the stairs, landing and tackling Magi to the ground.

"Ask first! I'm saving some cakes for a reason!" He protested, trying to wrestle the cake tin out of her hands. Magi hugged the cake tin stubbornly.

"Do I need to tie your hands together again?" A tall older man, Tortega, sighed as he watched the two, making them freeze.

"No!" They cried out.

"Get a room!" A shota warrior, Alsked, yelled. Magi blushed at that and sheepishly gave the cake tin back. Yami got off her and ran back to his room. He barely put the cake tin down when a huge man wearing many skull patterns casually picked him up,threw him over his shoulder, and walked down the stairs, yawning.

"Nova, I can walk just fine." Yami muttered.

"Ehhhh... Go help Xunio make dinner... I mean breakfast to ya lazy glad." His words were slightly slurred as he plopped Yami back down in the kitchen. Yami gave him a short glare in response to being manhandled, which Nova gave a sleepy stare back. Yami turned and washed his hands.

"Hey! Make something other than sweets, please?" A blonde elf wrapped in desert-style green clothing requested. Lily, the guild's leader.

"You got it!" Xunio responded, sending a meaningful look to Yami.

"No muffins?!" Yami exclaimed, eyes wide.

"You could do fruit muffins. Right?" A small brown haired girl in a feathery purple dress spoke up. Shelby.

"Yes yes!"

"Phew!"

Yami and Xunio made enough food to feed twenty people and complained about how 'no one else is able to get off their lazy arse and help make breakfast' and 'we should be getting paid for this'.

"I could pay you if you save a little bit of bacon for me~" A red-winged warrior with gray hair offered. Vukano, one of the richest people in the guild.

"Heck no." Xunio huffed. Bacon was worth more than gold.

"Come onnn.." Vukano sighed, walking back to the dining room. Xunio smirked and dumped the last stack of bacon on a tray.

"Bacon is healthy, right...?" Yami frowned.

"Shhh, let's just say it is." Xunio grinned to him. Yami nodded secretively and held up his fingers, counting down to zero before they both shouted, "THE FOOD'S READY!"

Xunio quickly grabbed a muffin and a few strips of bacon while a rumbling earthquake told them Kakumei was about to raid the kitchen. Yami shoved a pancake in his mouth and dived under the table as the fight over the bacon began. People were shoved down, punched, kicked, bitten, and shouted insults at. Only one would be the bacon king. Yami grabbed a piece of bacon before it touched the ground and ate that. It wasn't as good as sweets. Why did people go crazy over it?

Finally, Nova came in and leisurely took the bowl of bacon out of the kitchen, ignoring the people who hung off him or got in his way. He yawned as he tromped up the stairs, people shouting insults to the man's deaf ears.

From there, Kakumei calmed down and actually took plates of pancakes, muffins and eggs and the like. A pretty man, Artix, wearing light colored clothes and glasses peeked under the table.

"What are you doing under there?" He asked, taking Yami by the arm and pulling him to his feet, bumping his head on the top of the table.

"Hiding from the war." Yami responded, rubbing his head.

"Pfffff." Art put a plate of food on his head and Yami quickly rushed to grab it before it spilled everywhere. He took a fork and took a few bites. Wandering back to the dining room, he sat nearby Tortega and ate quietly, watching Kakumei gather, talk and shout at the table. Not everyone was here, some had some early-morning missions.

"Uh, Tortega, what are you doing today?" Yami asked his mentor.

"I'm going to keep searching for better ores for my sword." Tor responded.

"Should we look in the black mines?"

"If worse comes to worst, perhaps."

Yami nodded and focused on his food.

"You guys want to make a Kakumei arena later room today?" Vukano shouted over everyone.

"Heck yeah!"

"Yeah, sure..."

"Okay!"

"Why wouldn't we?!"

"Do you even have to ask?"

And that settled that. People split off one by one to do whatever jobs were requested or to get ready for the day. The last one to finish had to wash the dishes, and Yami quickly put his plate and utensils in the growing pile in the sink. He went back up to his room and started to brush and comb his hair so it wasn't frizzled everywhere. He put on his coat and other armor, putting his back. He carefully started to stretch with his greatsword. His sword was a part of him, and not getting accustomed to it in the morning could be dangerous even if had fought with a sword all his life. He took ten minutes to stretch, and then grabbed a supporting beam, pulling himself slowly up and down, swinging his legs back and forth for extra difficulty. He eventually switched to one arm. he then flipped upside down and did some sit ups, touching his toe with every lift. Landing on his hands, Yami flipped onto his feet and shook himself out to find Tor waiting patiently.